SEAS Colonial Cable

Message from Dean David Dolling

The 2009-2010 academic year got underway here this past Monday, and as you will notice from the articles below, we are off to a good start. SEAS begins this semester with four new faculty members, all of them teaching and conducting research in areas in which SEAS already has a strong or growing presence and reputation. Two of them are featured in this month's Colonial Cable, and two will be featured in next month's issue.

You might also notice that we begin the year with two new National Science Foundation grants, both of them received in the space of only a few weeks. These are in addition to the two national research grants that we announced just last month in the Colonial Cable.

On top of this, we have a number of events scheduled to celebrate and commemorate our 125th anniversary. The first event of the semester is our SEAS Alumni/Student Softball Game and BBQ at the Mt. Vernon Campus on September 12th. I encourage you to join us—this is a terrific way to meet our current students, catch up with friends, and simply have a little fun on a Saturday afternoon. Also on September 12th, GW will host the Square 54 Panel Discussion and Site Visit. Square 54 is the city-block-sized commercial and residential structure being developed by Boston properties in the site that previously housed the old hospital (immediately east of the new GW hospital, and two blocks north of Tompkins Hall). If you are interested in learning about this project—whose revenue will help fund the construction of the new Science and Engineering Complex—please join us the morning of the 12th here on the Foggy Bottom Campus. More information on Square 54 and a webcam are available on the University's web site.

Sincerely,

David S. Dolling
Dean

News & Events

• SEAS Undergraduates Challenge SEAS Alumni to a Softball Game
• A Message from Development
• Introducing . . . Professors Parmer and Venkataramani
• GW Receives NSF Grant to Study Complex Biological Networks
• NSF Provides Funding for GW Nano Undergraduate Engineering
• COBRE Receives Additional Funding
• Event: "Square 54" Panel Discussion
• Event: SEAS Alumni/Student Softball Game
• Event: BBQ Celebration at Tompkins Hall
• Career Services Volunteer Opportunities--Alumni Needed
• Save the Date: Alumni Weekend: October 1-4, 2009
• Save the Date: Resume Critique Event
• Save the Date: SEAS 125th Anniversary Frank Howard Lecture Series

SEAS Undergraduates Challenge SEAS Alumni to a Softball Game

Word is getting out about the upcoming SEAS Alumni/Student Softball Game and BBQ, and the students are ready for the challenge. In fact, they are so ready for the game that they’ve issued a “challenge” to you, the alumni, in the letter immediately below. Please don’t be put off by the “smack talk” tone of the challenge. Feel free to issue an alumni challenge of your own—or better yet, just come to the game and show them what SEAS alumni can do.

Dear Alumni:

So you’ve got your real jobs; your education done. But what we wanna know is: you still got your game? We undergrads want to see if all those business calls and emails keepin’ you sharp in your career are enough to keep you sharp on the field.

What do we mean? We challenge you to a match: a round of softball. Undergraduates versus alumni. Go ahead and try to beat us—put us in our place.

We undergrads talk the talk. Come see if we walk the walk. We’ll do the same. Bring it on :)

Sincerely,

SEAS Undergraduates

A message from Development . . .

Dear SEAS Alumni and Friends:

There are a number of reasons why SEAS takes pride in celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, and one of the most important reasons is this: by knowing and celebrating our foundation, we better prepare ourselves to build for our future.

One of the best ways we can build for the future is by helping to support the education of our students. The SEAS 125th Anniversary Scholarship Fund is a great opportunity to do that.

Your gift will provide important and needed financial aid for aspiring SEAS students as they develop the skills and expertise that will be necessary to solve some of our most pressing global issues. With your help, SEAS can prepare more students to take their places among engineers and computer scientists working toward greater energy independence, better computer security, cleaner water, and more technologies with healthcare applications.

Please join us in this 125th year of engineering at GW as we build and strengthen our great school for the future.

Your gift can be made online at https://www.gwu.edu/online_giving/, or by mail to SEAS, Office of Development and Alumni Relations, 210 Tompkins Hall, 725 23rd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052.

I, or a member of the SEAS Development staff, would be happy to talk with you and can be reached at 202-994-8474 or by email to seas@gwu.edu.

On behalf of Dean Dolling and all of us here at SEAS, thank you.

Thank you, and my best regards,
Jim Howard

Assistant Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations
210 Tompkins Hall
jphoward@gwu.edu
Tel: 202-994-4121

~~ SEAS 2009 - Celebrating 125 Years of Engineering ~~

Introducing . . . Professors Parmer and Venkataramani

Professor Gabriel Parmer has joined SEAS as an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science. He will teach courses in operating systems and related software and systems areas. Professor Parmer recently completed his Ph.D. in computer science at Boston University, where he also received his B.S. degree. At Boston University, he received a best-paper award in 2006, his department's annual Research Excellence Award in 2007-08, and best poster award at BU's annual Industry-Affiliates Day in 2008. His main research interests include operating systems with a focus on real-time and embedded systems, component-based design, and system dependability.

Professor Guru Prasadh Venkataramani has joined SEAS as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Professor Venkataramani’s research area is computer architecture with an emphasis on providing efficient and low-cost hardware support for software debugging, security, and programmability. He is also interested in hardware solutions for performance tuning, especially for multi-core and emerging many-core architectures. Here at SEAS, he will teach courses in computer engineering and conduct research in support of our signature program in high-performance computing . Before joining SEAS, Professor Venkataramani completed his Ph.D. in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a member of IEEE and ACM.

GW Receives NSF Grant to Study Complex Biological Networks

The National Science Foundation's interdisciplinary Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation program has awarded GW a four-year, nearly $1.2 million grant to study complex biological networks. The grant was won by Professor Rahul Simha of the Department of Computer Science and his collaborators, Professors Chen Zeng and Yongwu Rong, of the Departments of Physics and Mathematics, respectively.

The grant is a boost to the complex systems research group started by Professors Zeng and Simha, now called the Institute for Biomolecular Networks. This research group focuses on understanding fundamental design principles in nature's networks, in particular the network of interactions among molecules in an average cell. The potential impact of this research is far-reaching since the functioning of complex biological networks is the basis of living systems. By increasing understanding of these networks, GW researchers might be able to produce a practical algorithm to infer network structure from the types of data available today—something that is very difficult to do with current technologies. In addition, the project will help increase our understanding of complex systems in general. Biocomplexity is merely one type of complexity, and to the extent that they make headway in building computational tools to help understand this type of complexity, similar tools are like ly to help with other types of complexity.

NSF Provides Funding for GW Nano Undergraduate Engineering

Working in conjunction with a colleague from the GW Medical School, four SEAS faculty have successfully competed for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Nano Undergraduate Engineering (NUE) grant. The purpose of the two-year, $200,000 grant is to develop a program that will prepare undergraduate engineering students for careers or graduate studies in the design of systems and devices employing biological nanotechnology. Specifically, faculty will do this by incorporating bio-nanotechnology—in the form of new courses and new laboratory experiments—into the undergraduate engineering curriculum in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

With the support provided by the NSF grant, the faculty will collaborate across the departments to develop six new courses: (1) an introductory course in bio-nanotechnology, (2) a course on the regulatory oversight of nanotechnology, (3) a nano electronics course, (4) a course on nanotechnology and the environment, (5) a computational nanosciences course, and (6) a bio-nano capstone design course. They will also develop a set of ten laboratory experiments to enhance existing courses.

The principal investigator (PI) on this grant is Professor Ryan Vallance of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. The co-PIs are Professors Youngsheng Leng (Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering), Baoxia Mi (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering), Jonathan Silver (Department of Biochemistry), and Mona Zaghloul (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering).

COBRE Receives Additional Funding

Professor Michael Plesniak (MAE chair) has been named the director of the GW Center for Biomimetics and Bioinspired Engineering (COBRE). The primary objective of the center is to develop infrastructure for interdisciplinary research and education, and to conduct research in the area of biomimetics and bioinspired engineering.

In the last few decades, much of the focus in engineering has shifted to small, multi-functional machines and "smart" technologies. This has been enabled by recent advances in materials, actuators, sensors, control algorithms, computer technology, and manufacturing processes. However, despite our seeming prowess in these component technologies, we find it hard to outperform Nature in this arena; Nature's solutions are smarter, more energy-efficient, agile, adaptable, fault-tolerant, environmentally friendly, and multifunctional. Thus, there is much that we as engineers can learn from Nature as we develop the next-generation machines and technologies, and this has been the motivation behind the creation of COBRE.

Under the leadership of its founding director, Professor Rajat Mittal, researchers within COBRE have studied topics such as biological locomotion, bio-inspired control, biometrology, biorobotics, and bio-inspired materials, and they have achieved notable success. During the first three years, COBRE researchers have obtained $2 million in external research funding; published numerous journal articles; fostered undergraduate participation in research; attracted high quality graduate students, researchers and faculty to GW; and enhanced the national/international reputation of GW and SEAS. COBRE-related research has also been covered extensively in the media.

GW's Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald Lehman recently announced that funding for COBRE has been renewed for three additional years after evaluation of the center's accomplishments and positive recommendation by a review panel. For more information, please visit http://cobre.seas.gwu.edu/index.php or contact Professor Plesniak.

Engineer Alumni Association, Call for Volunteers

Volunteer for our newly structured EAA. We are building new and dynamic alumni programming at SEAS, and we need alumni volunteers who can provide direction and feedback to the Office of Alumni Relations and SEAS to help build alumni engagement with a focus on Alumni Programs, Student/Alumni Programs, and Recruitment and Outreach.

We are asking volunteers to commit to a year of service, during which you will assist in planning SEAS alumni programs, attend three meetings per year, participate on at least on of the focus area committees, and attend at least two SEAS alumni events per year.

If you are interested in participating in this integral part of programming for SEAS alumni, please contact:
Erin Pitts
Associate Director, School Alumni Programs
Alumni House @ 1918 F Street NW
(202) 994-2355 phone
espitts@gwu.edu

Upcoming SEAS Events

"Square 54" Panel Discussion

Join us to learn more about Square 54, its fascinating engineering achievements, and the benefits the space will provide to the University and the surrounding community. A site visit begins at 10:30 a.m., followed by brunch and a panel discussion. (Read more and register. . .)

SEAS Alumni/Student Softball Game & BBQ
In celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the School of Engineering and Applied Science

A late summer afternoon on the beautiful Mount Vernon Campus, a BBQ, and a friendly softball game with SEAS students, and your fellow SEAS alumni and friends: you can't beat that for a fun afternoon activity. Whether you choose to play softball or prefer to be a part of the cheering section, join us for the fun! Families are welcome, too. (Read more and register. . .)

Career Services Volunteer Opportunities--Alumni Needed

The George Washington University Career Center will host the Fall Career Fair on Wednesday, September 23, 2009. If you’d like to hire the best engineering and IT students then we’d like to invite you to participate in the fair! Click here for more information or to register your participation. You may also choose to host an Information Session at SEAS the same week as the GW Fall Career Fair. SEAS Information Sessions are free of charge for employers, students and alumni.

In addition to participating in the GW Fall Career Fair, there are many opportunities for alumni to become engaged in SEAS Career Services, including advertising internships and full or part-time jobs to SEAS students, and posting job opportunities to GWork, the university-wide internship and job posting site.

For more information about these and other opportunities, contact Emmy Rashid, SEAS Career Services Director, at (202) 994-7892.

BBQ Celebration at Tompkins Hall
In celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the School of Engineering and Applied Science

Join your fellow SEAS alumni, Dean David S. Dolling, and SEAS faculty and staff for a laid-back, fun-filled afternoon.

Please note: This link will take you to the Alumni Weekend page where you can register specifically for the BBQ Celebration on Saturday, October 3. (Read more and register. . .)

Save the Date: Alumni Weekend: October 1-4, 2009
The George Washington University

Attention members of the classes of 2004, 1999, 1989, 1984, 1970-79, and 1959 and earlier! Please mark your calendars for your class reunions to take place during Alumni Weekend 2009. Your reunion will feature class reunion celebrations; an all-alumni kick-off celebration; “Classes without Quizzes;” Taste of GW, comedy events, an athletic reunion, and sustainability events; tours of Thurston and campus; and much, much more.

We need your help to plan events and recruit classmates to attend. If you would like to nominate yourself or a classmate to serve on a Reunion Committee, please contact Stephanie Medwid, associate director of classes and reunions, at reunion@gwu.edu or 1-800-ALUMNI-7. Don't miss this monumental opportunity to reconnect with classmates, GW, and D.C.! Come back to GW and celebrate good times! (Read more and register. . .)

Save the Date: Resume Critique Event

For SEAS students and alumni. GW Alumni House, the SEAS Development Office, and the SEAS Career Services Office are partnering to plan this event. Please contact seasalum@gwu.edu if you are interested in assisting in reviewing resumes.

Save the Date: SEAS 125th Anniversary Frank Howard Lecture Series
In celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the School of Engineering and Applied Science

This fall, the Frank Howard Distinguished Lecture Series will host three engineering experts in fields that are the focus of the cutting-edge research happening in engineering. Please join your fellow alumni at these lectures, each followed by a networking reception.

Dr. Roco is the co-chair of the National Science and Technology Council and Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology for the National Science Foundation. (Read more and register…)

Dr. Seible is considered a world-leader in bridge design and strategies to mitigate earthquake damage to buildings and bridges. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the dean of the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. (Read more and register...)

Dr. Liskov is an Institute Professor at MIT and also associate provost for faculty equity. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the ACM. In 2003, she was named one of the 50 most important women in science by Discover Magazine. (Read more and register...)

Archives: SEAS Colonial Cable

SEAS Colonial Cables from the 2008-2009 Academic Year

SEAS Colonial Cables from the 2007-2008 Academic Year

SEAS Colonial Cables from the 2006-2007 Academic Year

SEAS Colonial Cables from the 2005-2006 Academic Year